Zuma should send secrecy bill for further review

November 14, 2013 12:11 PM ET

New York, November 14, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists urges
South African President Jacob Zuma not to sign the revised Protection of State
Information Bill and instead to send it to the Constitutional Court for review.
The bill, which was sent back to parliament in September, was passed
again by the National Assembly late on Tuesday.

"The National Assembly's failure to amend the deeply chilling
provisions of this bill is a bitter disappointment," said CPJ's Africa Program
Coordinator Sue Valentine. "The assembly's cursory revisions did little more
than correct grammar and punctuation, and made a mockery of parliament's duty
to uphold the
letter and spirit of South Africa's constitution. It is now up to President
Zuma to clearly demonstrate the country's commitment to press freedom by sending
the bill to the Constitutional Court for expert review."

The Protection of State Information Bill,
which has been dubbed the "Secrecy Bill," has come under much criticism from
civil society and press freedom organizations, who believe that the language of
the legislation is wide open to interpretation and abuse by officials. The bill
also allows for a journalist who discloses classified information to be charged
with espionage, which carries up to 25 years in jail.

South African court orders group to cease harassing journalists

July 7, 2017 12:29 PM ET

New York, July 7, 2017--A Johannesburg High Court order forbidding a political organization from gathering outside the home of journalists who have reported on corruption, threatening them, or inciting others to harm them is a welcome victory for press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today....